Book Review: Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs by Edie Eckman

This is one of my most favorite crochet books. Spiral-bound, hardcover, and covering one of the widest ranges of crochet motifs I've ever seen, it's a truly inspirational read for the crochet designer. You'll learn how to design your own motifs, follow the motif patterns in the book, and what to make with them!

The first few chapters cover different materials and ways to use the motifs spread throughout the book. In a fun collection of hand-drawn illustrations, everything from headbands to pockets to bookmarks to earrings (!!!) to hanging mobiles is laid out in bright colors and fun lines. It's easy for anyone to become inspired by reading this part - there are so many ideas that can be used!

And the variety of motifs included in this book is astounding! Literally every single shape you can think of is represented in crochet form. The possibilities are endless with these motifs - you could put together two different square motifs, alternating to create a scarf, or piece together a many-colored blanket with triangle or hexagon motifs. With a little math and some thinking, you could even put together an afghan with rectangle and square pieces in a colorful geometric pattern!

What I love: the tips in the beginning of the book. There are little articles on how to make a corner sharply defined or softly rounded, how to keep a motif flat (if designing your own motifs), how to invisibly join a round, how to change colors, how to decide which yarn weight to use, and even how to read a chart! This book taught me how to read charts, which are so important in crochet, especially when following a pattern in a foreign language (Japanese, anyone? Those guys design THE most gorgeous pieces, and, thank goodness, they usually include a chart to follow!). It's been invaluable to me in understanding the way different stitches look and how a chart is laid out. 

This is the first craft book review I've written, and I'm planning on writing more as the opportunities present themselves! Having worked in a library and bookstore, I know which books have sold/done the best in the arts & crafts world, and especially which ones helped me the most. I hope this review was helpful!